Category: Current

1. IS IMMIGRATION A PROBLEM OR AN OPPORTUNITY? Although the present study frequently refers to Germany, I believe that my conclusions apply more generally to ageing European societies and to the impact of migration from poor to rich countries. Like much of Europe, Germany is an ageing society. The proportion

Part I BEWARE OF THE “TERRIBLE SIMPLIFICATEURS” In the late 19th century the Swiss historian Jakob Burckhardt warned against “these terrible simplificateurs who one day will descend upon our old Europe…”1 Today’s economic, political, societal and social reality is even more complex than in the days of Burckhardt and the

Europe’s dependency on Russian energy is sometimes presented as a largely unalterable fact of life when in reality there is much that Europeans can do to reduce this dependency and indeed have already begun to do so. Commentators are also apt to overlook the extent to which market conditions are

With Nobel Prize winners and businessmen all over the world, with a NATO army and locally produced aircraft, Turkey is easily the most successful Moslem country. But the problems begin with this statement. Have the Turks a native talent for adapting to whichever empire they happen to encounter, in modern

BASIC FRAMEWORK AND SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF THE NEW SYSTEM  The Hungarian constitutional framework has guaranteed suffrage since 1990. In alignment with the previous constitution, the new Fundamental Law expressly provides that “Members of the National Assembly shall be elected by universal and equal suffrage in a direct and secret ballot,

“How could the British make Dahrendorf a baron but Popper only a knight?” said a surprised German politician. He did not understand the British honours system, and indeed few people do. Eric Hobsbawm, never-resigning member of the Communist Party, was made Companion of Honour (to the Queen). Fair enough, for

The opening line in most obituaries of Robert Conquest, who died on August the third, described him as a “historian and poet”. That would be a capacious enough description for most men of letters. In Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, Charon keeps A. E. Housman waiting on the banks

Greece’s predicament gave new meaning to the phrase “peripheral Eurozone” – concluded the analysis of Fitch, a leading rating agency. The Greek financial case is certainly extreme in its complexities but there have been other Eurozone members – the Irish, the Portuguese and the Spanish – experiencing dramatic economic events